CINP Report

Poster Highlights From the July 2006 Collegium Internationale Neuro-psychopharmacologicum XXV Congress in Chicago

Weight Management by Group Interventions. The Longer Term Outcomes at 20 Months in an Irish Cohort of Patients with Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

Bushe C, Haley C, McNamara D, McCrossan F, Devitt P.

167 overweight patients with SMI enrolled in a group weight-loss program. The program consisted of weekly group sessions focusing on discussion and education geared toward long-term lifestyle changes. Bushe and colleagues reported a progressive reduction in body mass index (BMI) over 18 months with no sign of plateau. Mean weight loss for the cohort at 18 months was 10.5 kg and mean BMI reduction at 20 months was 4.68 kg.

Cardiac Risk Factors and Schizophrenia: An Analysis of 18,094 Patients Enrolled in an International Comparative Trial of Olanzapine and Ziprasidone

Strom B, Faich G, Reynolds R, Eng S, Rappard F, Kane J.

The Ziprasidone Observational Study of Cardiac Outcomes (ZODIAC) has enrolled over 18,000 schizophrenic patients. At baseline, 71% of the cohort were taking antipsychotics and 80% of these were taking ≥ 1 other medications as well. Approximately 33% of the cohort have made >1 suicide attempts. Cardiovascular conditions are highly prevalent in this population, with hypertension and hyperlipidemia particularly overrepresented. Diabetes was also quite common in the ZODIAC cohort.

Global Preference Survey Shows That Patients Prefer Fast Dissolving Tablets and Compliance Improves With This Novel Formulation

van Oers HJJ, Simmons JH, van Willigenburg APP.

The results of a global survey of 5,656 patients with depression indicate a preference for fast dissolving tablets (FDT) over conventional tablet formulations. 62% of respondents preferred mirtazipine FDT over conventional tablets with 87% citing ease of use, 29% ability to take the tablet without water, and 25% taste. 48% of respondents indicated that they were more likely to comply to treatment with FDT. Efficacy of mirtazipine FDT was also high, with 90% of patients reporting improved mood.

Costs of Suicide Attempts in the Treatment of Bipolar Disorder

Zhu B, Ascher-Svanum H, Stensland M, et al.

An assessment of 23,313 patients with either ≥ 2 or more outpatient diagnoses of BPD or ≥ 1 inpatient diagnoses of BPD revealed that 1,147 of the probands, 4.9%, had attempted suicide. The suicide attempts were more common in the young, females, patients with depression, and substance abusers. The researchers also examined the cost of suicide attempts in this patient population and found an average reimbursement of $25,012 in the year following the suicide attempt as opposed to an average of $11,476 in the year leading up to the suicide attempt. Increased costs were concentrated around the first month following suicide attempt.

Intramuscular Aripiprazole Controls Agitation in Patients With Schizophrenia or Bipolar I Disorder Without Excessive Sedation

Currier G, Crandall D, Archibald D, Nyilas M, Pikalov A, Oren D.

A meta-study of 3 previous studies of the efficacy of intramuscular (IM) aripiprazole showed that IM aripiprazole reduced agitation in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar 1 disorder (BP1) without inducing excessive sedation. In two studies of patients with schizophrenia, 94.1% of patients treated with aripiprazole IM and 92.1% of those treated with haloperidol did not experience excessive sedation within 2 hours of injection. In a study of patients with BP1, 92% of patients treated with aripiprazole IM and 85.4% of patients treated with lorazepam did not experience excessive sedation.